Patient discharge is not the end of the process, but a vital step in the patient journey
Read more!“We actually wanted to start using Medimo much earlier, and once Medimo’s import module made it possible to connect our dispensing GP, we were ready to go. As soon as the option became available, we were keen to switch right away. We’re really happy with Medimo, because it’s less prone to errors than paper lists and incredibly user-friendly.”
Karin Dorst en Sari van Rossum van Halte Zomervilla.
Karin Dorst and Sari van Rossum from Halte Zomervilla in the Dutch town of Oud-Beijerland share their experiences. Karin is the team leader of the organisation, and Sari works as a support staff member and medication coordinator. Sari: “I order the medication, maintain contact with the pharmacies, implement changes and make sure everything is delivered on time. Before, we had to sign off medication on paper and placed our orders with a paper list. We chose Medimo because it’s so much less error prone – that was really the deciding factor for us.”
Karin: “I saw Medimo being used by care staff in a nursing home, and everyone was saying how easy it was – simple and so much better. Our management quickly gave the green light too, because it clearly improves safety. And honestly, you just want to keep up with the times, so the digital aspect is vey appealing. Everything is going digital, and the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate is really pushing for that in all the new Medication safety protocols. So in the end, the decision was an easy one.”
Halte Zomervilla is an organisation that, five years ago, transformed a vacant church in Nieuw-Beijerland, South Holland, into a beautiful residential facility for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). The location provides space for ten permanent residents. In addition, there are thirteen guest residents who stay on a rotating basis, to give their parents some respite from the intensive level of care. The residents have a warm and welcoming home there.
The foundation was set up by a group of parents who were searching for a residential place for their children with very specific care needs, but couldn’t find anything suitable within the existing care system. They decided to take matters into their own hands. They established a foundation, found a beautiful location and since then, 23 individuals have found either a permanent home or enjoyed a temporary stay there. The care is funded through personal budgets (PGB) and the board operates entirely on a voluntary basis, so all funds go directly into care. “We have around forty staff members and a lot of volunteers. From maintenance staff to cooking and cleaning assistants, to walking companions. There’s a huge sense of community and support from the village.”
Sari: “What made the decision a bit more complex for us was the fact that we don’t just have permanent residents – we also have guest residents. They are not all registered with the same pharmacy. We looked into whether those pharmacies could also be linked in the system, and that turned out to be possible for almost all of them. The two pharmacies that couldn’t be linked still send us their medication lists on paper, but it’s manageable.”
“The fact that we have guest residents means we have to fully trust their pharmacies to enter everything in Medimo correctly. When parents drop off their children, we always review the medication list just to be sure. What would be really helpful for us, but isn’t available yet, is a notification system that alerts us when there’s been a change.”
“In a nursing home, you typically have a medication round between 8 and 9 am where everyone gets their medication at the same time, and it’s all signed off. With us, the timings are more flexible and more like a home environment – and Medimo works really well for that. It’s also really nice that you can see which medications still need to be administered throughout the day. They show up green first and then orange, so you know when it’s time. The app is incredibly helpful, especially when medication has to be administered at unusual times.”
“It’s also great that we can email the medication lists directly to the day care locations, even if they’re not using Medimo. Previously, we had to print, copy and hand them over, but that’s no longer necessary.”
“We got in touch in June. We didn’t want to switch in summer, so we started the process in September 2024 to fully transition,” explain Karin and Sari. “Everything was arranged in four weeks and it all ran like clockwork. The only nerve-wracking moment was when the pharmacy had to make the data ‘available’.”
“We were given online training and received excellent support. They walked us through everything. As application administrators, we were given access rights and only had to enter the details of the residents and staff and configure the necessary settings for data exchange. Everyone had to go through the e-learning, so they knew where to find what, how to sign off and what to pay attention to. There wasn’t a single colleague who didn’t understand it; it all went very seamless.”
Halte Zomervilla is a relatively small organisation and doesn’t use all the features of Medimo. Karin: “We’re not a nursing home, of course. We don’t prescribe, we don’t transfer residents and we don’t adjust lists ourselves, so we rely on the pharmacy. With a paper list, you could sometimes make adjustments or sign off after the deadline had passed. That’s no longer possible.”
“We’re also really pleased that the double-checking process is strictly enforced. Some medications need to be double-checked. This means you can only sign off once a colleague has verified the medication and dosage. And that’s a really good thing.”
Sari: “I know there are many more features in Medimo that we could use, but we’re just too small for that. Large organisations have someone dedicated to handling all of that, but that’s not the case with us.”
All in all, Karin and Sari are very pleased with the improvements Medimo has brought to Halte Zomervilla.
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Some 200 pharmacists in Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe are automatically receiving lab results from medical diagnostics centre Certe through their pharmacy information system. This enables the pharmacists to easily look up their patients’ latest laboratory results and make a proper assessment when prescribing dosage and type of medication. An efficient and user-friendly approach, in the interest of pharmacovigilance.
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